Good Morning America's Jon Karl on Thursday used a new study by the
liberal Environmental Working Group [EWG] to deride the calls of
spending cuts by certain Tea Party Republicans as "hypocritical."

Karl didn't raise any concerns about hyping the claims of the EWG, an
organization that, as Michelle Malkin pointed out in 2002, has railed
against hair spray, playgrounds and the conservative journalist John
Stossel. Instead, Karl chided these House GOP members for receiving
federal money for farm subsidies.

Co-anchor George Stephanopoulos excitedly introduced "[Karl]
joins us now with a discovery that may cause some discomfort for some of
those members of Congress and their supporters in the Tea Party."

Rather
than inform viewers of the EWG's activist leanings, the ABC reporter
blandly explained, "According to a new study by the Environmental
Working Group, [Tea Party Republican, Representative Stephen] Fincher's
family farm has received more than three million dollars in federal
subsidies since 1995."

An ABC graphic dismissed, "Tea Party Darlings on the Dole: Taking Millions in Government Money." A second graphic read, "Hill 'Hypocrisy.'"

Karl played a clip of the EWG's President, Ken Cook: "This is a group
of people coming into Congress with Tea Party support who, in fact, are
partaking in big government."

But conservative opponents of farm subsidies should perhaps be a little
more wary of jumping into bed with these radical greens. The EWG is not
just a humble "nonprofit research outfit," as it is being described by
the mainstream press. It is a savvy political animal funded by
deep-pocketed foundations with a big-government agenda of their own. And
it is engaged in aggressive eco-lobbying that belies its image as an
innocuous public charity dedicated to "educating" citizens.

...

The EWG-a nonprofit, Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)
charity-thrives on funding from an array of extremely liberal
foundations. One of its leading benefactors was the W. Alton Jones
Foundation, which failed miserably a few years ago in its widely
publicized attempt to scare people out of using plastic sandwich bags by
claiming they contained endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The group
continues to tout the foundation's efforts and plug its alarmist
junk-science book, Our Stolen Future, on the EWG Website.

In fact, in 2000, EWG went after John Stossel, hardly a fan of subsidies and spending, for attacking organic food.

A transcript of the March 31 segment can be found below:

ABC GRAPHIC: Hill 'Hypocrisy': Tea Party Darlings on the Dole: Taking Millions in Government Money

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We're going to go back to Washington now where
Tea Party forces are rallying at the capitol today, demanding that the
Republicans they helped elect last November follow through on big budget
cuts. Jon Karl will be there for all the action. He joins us
now with a discovery that may cause some discomfort for some of those
members of Congress and their supporters in the Tea Party. Hey, Jon.

JON KARL: That's right, George. You know, the Tea Party movement swept
Republicans into power in the House with promises of making those big
spending cuts. But a new report out this morning says that some of them
have been on the government dole for years. The Tea Party movement is
all about slashing federal spending. But, at least five House members
with Tea Party connections have themselves collected more than $100,000
each in federal farm subsidies, totaling more than eight million dollars
since 1995.

One of them, Congressman Stephen Fincher of Frog Jump Tennessee.
[Talking to Congressman] You, directly have about $10,000 in subsidies.
[Back to report] According to a new study by the Environmental Working
Group, Fincher's family farm has received more than three million
dollars in federal subsidies since 1995. More than $100,000 of those
taxpayer dollars going directly to Fincher himself. Are you willing to
see all your subsidies go away?

REP. STEPHEN FINCHER (R-TN): We need a better system than we have now.

KARL: But, are you willing to stand up now and say, "look, me, no more. I'm not going to take any more of these subsidies"?

FINCHER: We need a good, better, we need a better farm program and we need to streamline it. That's what we need to do.

KARL: So, that's not a yes?

FINCHER: We need, we need to look at many, many options and that's a long way off.

KARL: All told, more than 23 members of Congress have been on the
agricultural dole for more than 15 years. They or their families
receiving more than $12 million. Most of that money went to Republicans.

KEN COOK (President, Environmental Working Group): This is a
group of people coming into Congress with Tea Party support who, in
fact, are partaking in big government.

KARL: But one of them, Congressman Marlan Stutzman of Indiana, says
that he wants the subsidies, all of them, eliminated. So, you want the
agriculture subsidies cut?

REP. MARLAN STUTZMAN (R-Indiana): There's no reason for direct
payments, adding to our burden of debt. And it also, it manipulates the
market.

KARL: Eliminating all farm subsidies would save real money. In 2009
alone, federal farm subsidies totaled more than $16 billion and almost a
quarter of a trillion dollars in the last 15 years. So, will farm
subsidies be cut? Well, they might be, George. But so far, they have not
been a big target of Republican budget cutters.

STEPHANOPOULOS: In the meantime, this all comes as we're approaching
this potential government shutdown. The government runs out of money
next Friday, April 8. But, there was some progress last night. Vice
President Biden up on Capitol Hill saying that Republicans and Democrats
should split the difference on the amount of cuts there going to be
going for. So, that's a tentative deal, Jon, but their still a long way
away from writing the final bill and they don't know if it's going to
fly in the House.

KARL: Yeah, but it is a significant breakthrough. These talks had all
but reached an impasse. Vice President Biden got involved. As you said,
he was here, he was also negotiating directly with Speaker of the House
John Boehner. The deal would do $33 billion in spending cuts over the
next six months. But, you know, they haven't worked out the specifics of
those cuts. And as you said, the big question here is whether or not
John Boehner can sell that compromise to members of the House who have
been demanding bigger cuts.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And that's going to tough. I was getting a lot of
rumblings from House Republicans who said that's not enough for them.

KARL: Yeah. No doubt. It's a classic Washington compromise. It's more
cuts than Democrats want, not as much as Republicans were demanding. And
the guys who just got elected don't like classic Washington compromise.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay, Jon Karl.

- Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.

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